In precision winding of fiber, such as optical fiber or natural or synthetic fabric thread, the fiber is wound layer by layer over a tapered cylindrical bobbin. All odd layers are wound in one direction (example: from left to right) and all even layers are wound in the opposite direction (i.e. from right to left). Since the fiber layers are wound on top of the layer directly below, the winding fiber tends to fall within the grooves 2 formed by two adjacent turns of fiber 4 in the layer directly below, as shown in FIG. 1. Further, each present layer 12, after the very first layer, begins and ends a stepback distance 10 away from the outermost winds 8A and 8B of the preceding layer 14. The stepback distance serves to prevent the slipping of wound material off of the edges of the bobbin 6 during activities such as handling. However, because the present layer 12 is being wound in a direction opposite that of the preceding layer 14, the fiber encounters itself at some point in making a complete turn around the circumference of the bobbin. Experience in precision winding of fiber indicates that the fiber generally does not jump over itself at this point but that it crosses over some underlying turns of the fiber and settles back into another groove. The regions where this occurs in a wind are called "crossovers". Usually, crossovers occur in the vicinity of one another on a given layer and form crossover patterns as illustrated in FIG. 1. They are readily detectable by visual inspection and provide a qualitative measure of overall winding quality. Under current technology, it is necessary to stop the winding process and visually inspect the winding to see these crossover patterns.